Arrival In Fairbanks After An Easy Flight From Los Angeles
Arrival At Fairbanks International Airport!
The Alaskan husky.... The one INSIDE the box
Arrival at the airport meant Jon had to chase the wolves, even the stuffed ones!
We needed a walk after being on the airplace for hours
We are bussed to the hotel where we walk around the grounds before crashing for the evening and awaiting the train ride to Denali park. At the hotel, we quickly left the room and went walking only to meet the national bird of Alaska, the Mosquito!
Simple accomodations
Burning off energy
Rock skipping was mandatory. We made it all the way across the river onto the shoreline at the other side!
Did You Know? - Stone skipping is a pastime which involves throwing a stone with a flattened surface across a lake or other body of water in such a way that it bounces off the surface of the water. The object of the game is to see how many times a stone can be made to bounce before sinking.
The river ran right by the hotel and needless to say, it was NOT for swimming because it was ice cold. We saw several boats go back and forth by the hotel.
The next morning we catch the train at 7:15 am Princess Midnight Sun Express for Denali Park. It is a 4 hour 119 Mile trip. The train leaves at 8:15am and arrives at the park at 12:00.
Fairbanks, Alaska
See the current
Radar/Satellite
pictures!
On our trip, the days was warm and beautiful! No fancy stores, no pretty sidewalks. Fairbanks is not a scenic town. The 'capital of cracked wind shields' is wild and surrounded by sub arctic bush on all sides. Ice fog in winter and mosquitoes in summer. It's the heart of Alaska's great interior and the gateway to the 'last frontier'. No city in the North is closer to the edge than Fairbanks. The climate is tough.
Climate Extremes???
Fairbanks has one of the widest temperature ranges of any city in the world. It can be really cold, like -66 F in January (record low). And it can be quite warm, like 99 F in July (record high).
Winters are long and dark. Summers are short but the days have over 20 hours of sunlight. The only way to get out of Fairbanks quick is by plane. It's a 358 miles drive south to the only other big city in Alaska.
Riverboat Discovery III
Paddle wheeler
voyage
Board the authentic sternwheeler Riverboat Discovery III for a fully-narrated 3 1/2 hour cruise along the Chena and Tanana Rivers. Alaskan Native guides will take you ashore to an authentic Athabascan Indian village where you'll discover traditional Native lifestyles, marvel at the work of an Athabascan beadwork artist and meet Susan Butcher's famous Iditarod sled dog team. See a bush pilot demonstration, watch a fish wheel in operation, and see the "Wedding of the Rivers" where the Chena and Tanana Rivers converge.